1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to process and equipment for clean-in-place use for cleaning and sanitizing items which generally have liquid stored and sometimes flow through them, e.g. commercial and retail water coolers, ice makers, coffee makers, ice cream and yogurt machines, milk dispensers, drink dispensers and the like. More specifically, the present invention involves clean-in-place capabilities for automatically cleaning and sanitizing such items.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Water coolers, bulk milk dispensers and many other liquid holding/dispensing items have reservoirs, outlet lines, drains, etc. which require periodic cleaning and, preferably, sanitizing. Sometimes this is accomplished by complex permanent flushing apparatus and is otherwise frequently accomplished by the use of hard scrubbing and cleaning and/or hose or bucket flushing. However, these latter techniques and not very often followed or, if followed, are often inadequate.
For example, in a recent study of the reservoirs and dispensing faucets of ten conventional bottle water coolers at a Boston university over a two month period, between 2,000 and 1,000,000 bacteria per milliliter were found, even though the United States Federal Drug Administration maximum safe levels are 10,000 bacteria per milliliter. The problem is exacerbated by the companies that lease or sell such units because users are not properly warned of the bacteria problems nor are they usually given detailed cleaning instructions. When instructions are given, they usually require taking out the bottled water, preparing a diluted chlorine bleach solution, having the solution sit in the reservoirs for hours, removing the diluted bleach and rinsing until the chloride odor and taste are gone. Users simply won't follow such complex and time consuming steps.
Thus, the present invention is directed to portable equipment and the related process for cleaning and sanitizing items to be cleaned, wherein the portable equipment may be taken from item to item to be cleaned to permit clean-in-place operation without the need for movement of the item to a cleaning facility and without the need for permanently installed flushing equipment.
Further, the present invention uses unique combinations of equipment and steps to achieve the desired results. The prior art does not show any clean-in-place equipment of the type described herein. However, the following patents are believed to represent the current state of the art:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,476 issued to Richard Pocock et al. in 1986 describes a system for sanitizing beverage dispensing systems which utilizes a manifold with special fittings for sanitizing a system, including consumption of remaining beverage, sanitizing with a sanitizing liquid, flushing with water and drying with compressed gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,210 issued to Massao Iwanami in 1984 describes a circuit for washing a water-feeding system in automatic beverage dispensing machines. It describes a system for circulating cleaning solution through beverage vending machine lines using a return line which may be plugged and unplugged to and from the dispensing nozzles for cleaning and subsequent beverage dispensing. However, this is a permanent system and does not provide for portability of the equipment, nor does it provide for separate cleaning and sanitizing.
Thus, the prior art fails to teach or suggest the present invention system of attaching the apparatus to an item to be cleaned, first cleaning the item by automatic, controlled circulation of a cleaning solution, and subsequent automatic circulation of a sanitizing solution using on-site generated ozone for sanitization.